At home with model and The Block star Elyse Knowles

The Block contestant cheerily opens the door to her Coburg home bright-eyed with her characteristically bubbly attitude and trademark glowing smile.

But she giggles as she points out her partner, tradesman Josh Barker, sound asleep on the couch.

With the couple in the final week of filming for the reality TV series, “we’ve been up all night painting,” Elyse says.

The on-screen gig is a natural progression for Elyse, who is no stranger to a lens.

The model, 24, is already a household name, attracting more than 600,000 followers on Instagram and modelling for top labels including Billabong, One Day Bridal, Jo Mercer and Myer.

And while the conditions on The Block are quite the opposite to Elyse’s often glamorous day job, she and Josh have gone in with an advantage — they, too, lived in their home while undertaking their renovation.

“We know how to live and breathe reno — when we did this house, we showered outside for six months,” says Elyse, a self-confessed tomboy who doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty. “We did it rough, there was no back wall for a couple of months at the peak of winter.”

Josh, 27, chimes in as he wakes up from his nap, adding that their home “was a dump, literally ready to be bulldozed”.

“The front of the house had a 30cm drop — you could walk in and roll down a hill,” he laughs.

Together, the couple painstakingly restored the house to its original charm….